Panic

I had hopes of sorting through my hand dyed fabrics and putting them into 1 kg lots of mixed colours and selling them ( 1 kg of fabric is about 3.5 metres of fabric ) for $25 plus postage- but is it worth the effort and trouble as panic has set in???If you are interested let me know please I think i can manage to make up some packs on request!

I have to go and get rid of the last bits of rubbish as they take away the skip- I have been ruthless with clothes- not a scerrick left of anything I am not going to take with me- what's the point of holding onto bits and pieces that will never fit again . I know memories memories, but I am determined to look forward and not back.

Silk Tie Dye

I tied and dyed another piece of silk- this time bigger- the full width of the silk and 150 cm long- I really like this piece and had been thinking of machine quilting it- but I think it's screaming hand stitch hand stitch. Whilst I liked the piece I showed in the blog post before last, this one says more about dwindling waterways and the heat and drought that is the cause for the dwindling waterway- and the colours are very suggestive of the Australian outback.

If anyone would like to buy  a piece of silk done in a similar manner and of this size, the price is $200 US- and obviously I don't have much time left to make one. It takes ages to tie the rocks into the fabric and then to undo it all- and yet to use rocks seems somehow right for these pieces.

The book images are of a hand made book I made a couple of years ago and which  I found whilst doing more packing- the cover is made with Lutradur and momogami paper- it has 22 pages of rice paper used in Japanese calligraphy ( not too expertly cut!) and page one has a lino print of a unfurling fern frond  which isn't quite straight ( it was a lino cut I made but now I can't find it- don't know what happened to it) Anyway if anyone is interested the book is  for sale for $60 US - it measures 11 inches square  ( about 27cm square) The book is SOLD

And I still have a few packs of the threads  left ( see my previous post)

And for those of you who have asked whether I will continue to blog when I am in France- the answer is a most emphatic Yes!! Blogging has become a way fo life for me and has become a part of my creative process- I love the feedback I get and it takes away some of the isolation  you feel at times. I am hoping that once I have my Southern Lands quilts done, I will explore my french experience- I am not sure how yet ,but in the back of my mind  I am thinking about old textiles( with modern interpretations) and traditions maybe some woad???

Packing, Packing and Threads for Sale

I am trying to be organised in my packing so that things will be easy to find, and also to rationalise things a bit. Over the years I have gotten rayon threads for my hand stitching from England- they are used for weaving, and as I am ordering blind I have found I have ended up with quite a lot of double even triple colours , or ones that are very close in  colour. I am taking some of the threads with me so I continue muy Travellers Blanket and finish it and also hand stitch several Southern Lands pieces, but I also had a lot of thread left over.

So I have parcelled them up into bakers dozens and they are for sale. I am not sure how much thread is on each "cigar- which is what the spools of thread are called- but I have entirley hand quilted several quilts with one cigar ( the quilts measured 40 x  55 inches)- so there is a lot of stitching on each cigar! I also find the threads lovely to stitch with and use an embroidery needle for my hand stitching and quilting. I have mixed up the colours to try and give a good selection of colour and dark and light.  The packs contain 13 cigasr and are for sale for $45 plus postage ( postage to Europe or  the US will be about $30 and within Australia $10.00). I am quoting in Australina dollars as our currency seems to be fluctuating  a lot on the currency market. I have 10 packs for sale ( 4 packs have already sold so there are 6 packs left)

Fabric

Finally did some packing and also some dyeing. I am still trying to get pieces just right for my waterways series. This piece of  silk has been tie dyed with stones- but looking at it I want it to be larger I think, though I love the colours- I love the turquoise contrast with the earthy orange. So this piece is for sale if you are interested. It measures 55 cm wide by 137 cm long ( 22 inches x 45 inches) The silk is 12 mm which is the silk I use in all my silk pieces and it stitches beautifully. The price for this piece is $95 US inclusive of shipping.Silk is SOLD

The top image is of the muslin which I dye and which I used in my Travellers' Blankets- it is lovely and soft and has a nice even weave which makes it good for stitching by hand and machine ( I often use it as backing because it allows greater drapiness). I bought two new bolts  of the muslin a couple of months ago thinking I would dye them, but I have simply run out of time and I don't have enough room in my luggage to take it with me. So I am hoping to sell them . Each bolt is 50 metres and the fabric is 146 cm wide ( 57 inches wide). I am quoting Australian dollar prices as I imagine shipping costs would make it too expensive for overseas unless you were buying 10 metre lots. If you buy the whole bolt the cost will be $3 per metre ( $150 for the whole bolt)  plus postage. I am willing to sell 10 metre lots at a cost of $3.50 per metre ( $35 dollars for the 10 metres ) plus postage ( tthese prices are pretty close to wholesale prices) All the Muslin is SOLD

Count down

Some textiles I found today in a sort of tidy up-  iridescent pink orange and turquoise sari organza and indigo dyed sateen cloth from I think it was Mali- all to be  put away fro awhile- such a pity! Aren't they beautiful.

We are int he final  final count down- still not much packing done but we will get there I hope.

I am teaching near Paris on December 3-4 (  printing and painting fabric day one and  inspiration infabrication on day 2) and again on 11 December -  free machine quilting at Best of Quilting. If you are interested please follow the links on the website as class space is limited.

I also have a friend at St Pierre d'Albigny who has set up an internet business selling  procion dyes and trasnsfer dyes in France as well as other surface design needs at Teinture Textile. This sort of product is hard to buy in france so it's great to know that these supplies can now be purcahsed in France. She will be dooing tradeshows int he coming year as well so keep your eye out ofr a Kiwi in France!

New Zealand Quilter

The other day  I had to kill some time whilst waiting for my eldest daughter to finish her exams- it wasn't worth going home and  I forgot to take my travellers blanket to stitch. So how do you kill 2.5 hours of time- I leafed through various magzines in the newsagents and had a look at New Zealand Quilter which always has a good selection of different quilts articles. Imagine my surprise as I flipped through, to find my Climate Chane quilt taking up a whole half page lenghtwise- you can even read the writing! The two other quilts on the page are left to right; Gloria Loughman and Jenny Bowker. More images of the exhibition can be seen here, as well as statements and resumes for each of the quilters involved.

Thank you all for your kind wishes for our impending travels- I am trying to reply to you all individually, but my week has been taken up by mundane chores- taxes have to be done before I go so that everything is in order and I don't have to worry about it whilst I am away ( I hate hate hate doing taxes and always put it off until the absolute last minute, so I am feeling quite virtuous having them done before Christmas- another task off the list )

And then finally the sun has come out- and it's almost instantaneously summer- very welcome after all the rain!

Moments of Farewell

I think when I moved to this house at about this time last year i wasn't actually expecting to be moving in less than a months time ( 26 November we fly to France)and that I would be throwing my hat into the wind and setting off for France. So on the upside it is a dream coming true- to test my toes in the sands of France- so there is much to look forward to , but there has also been much to say goodbye and farewell to- things that were dreams of the past.

I don't think I will ever again live in Gellibrand or its surrounds. The bush and the Otways are beautiful, but it is not my place anymore; it's seen the shattering of family, the end of a marriage, and the fear of bushfires.It has been incredibly hard on my children- a harshness from which I had wished to protect them but which I ultimately couldn't and so it's time to move on. It has also been a time of loneliness- there were days where I felt I could not face the world, where I could not work, where I couldn't even find a grain of inpsiration and the rain never seemed to stop- but as with all things ,those things pass too. However I don't think I will ever lose my love for unfurling fern fronds- there is something very primal about them- you both want to cup and hold them and yet the curiousity to see the unfurling fronds delivers constant surprises.

So last weekend was the last time I gave a workshop in Australia for quite some time- I haven't set myself time lines- those will emerge as we settle into a new life. Now the question becomes what will i take??

Is anyone out there flying to Europe from Melbourne in late in November or early December who could help carry the My Place quilts to Europe? I was rather horrified at the cost of shipping them and as they weigh 20 kgs which is all my luggage allowance - and I do need some clothes and things to work with!

And anyone wishing to purchase my 72 Ways not to Stipple or Meander or 72 MORE Ways not to Stipple or Meander I suggsest you do so soon- as I am not sure  when I shall have them available again -  not until at least February next 2010.

Textile Pomegranate Variations

 I have been trying to sew small pieces for sale for the weekend. The first image is a pomegranate  applique- I did this for the chapter page in my caravanserai book. I had only cut it out ut decided it would make a nice piece on its own with a counter balance border that I had made out of the same fabric and painted at another time. It measures 12 inches by 11 inches ( 30 cm  x 27cm) and is for sale for $125.00US inclusive of postage.

The second image is another pomegranate variation-  8 inches square iand is also for sale for $50 US inclusive of postage.

I have been trying to clean up around the house- there are many deciduous trees and so many leaves to rake up, it was tooo wet to do it before- I have to burn them all before Novemeber the 1st as the burning off season ends on Saturday- hard to believe the fire season is already upon us when we have had so much rain. We have also been cleaning up the block of land- getting it mown- the grass has leaped- unfortunately no one seems to be in the mood to buy it- it would be so nice to seel it before we go away.

How Fast Can Grass Grow???

Teapot and Rosewater Jug                                           Boabab Tree SOLD

The teapoit and Rosewater Jug is for sale for $55US inclusive of postage ( it measures approx  8 inches square- 20cms square)

The Boabab Tree is for sale for $125US inclusive of  postage it measures 11 inches by 18 inches, 27 cm x 45 cm)

It seems like i only mowed the lawn the other day and now it has to be mown again! I am trying to do some sewing, but the car debacle has left me a bit blegh! I intend to do lots of small pieces in this next week as well as getting the fabric ready for my next waterways piece.  I am tempted to make a big linocut also reflecting waterways so I can make a number of different prints , using different fibres.

As Laura mentioned in the comments of last post- I am teaching a masterclass in Belgium  in Essen on 13- 15 April 2010. You can see details on her website, but we will be dyeing fabric, printing and painting on day 2 in order to make original one off pieces ont he last day. There are not many spots so if you are interested let Laura know via the website link I have given- just click on workshops.

I am also teaching in Switzerland  16-19 June 2010 at Leysin- for residential workshops. If you are interested just follow th ewebsite link I have given..

If anyone else in Europe is interested in workshops please contact me . I have updated my workshop list ( i have actually included images and one or two new classes- why didn't I do this before???) We will also be doing residential workshops  at Le Triadou- near Montpellier- these will take the form of masterclasses where you will spend a week developing work-  class numbers will be  small ( no more than 8) so it will be intensive and  it will be a great opportunity to explore your creative process  and vision!.

River Red

It is turning into a horror week with very little work to show for it and plenty of anxiety. I seem to be having a bad bad run with cars- first my white Nissan Micra died at the end of last year just before Christmas, i then bought an old car which  was driven into a ditch during a driving lesson by miss youngest, and then I bought a replacement good car, thinking my eldest daughter would have it when I left- it's now blown a head gasket- don't know how bad it is- but it's not going to be pretty ,or good in fact I am dreading what it will cost. It is just what I neeed at this time!Argggh

Then I was booking airfares- I was getting one quote of fares from Singapore  Airlines website ( and bear in mind that  when we fly from Australia it is much dearer than for Europeans to fly here)- but the site wouldn't accept my card- and I had to contact  my bank, did all that, re booked and still payment wouldn't be accepted. I  re did it several times- over a two and a half  hour period- each time the fare quote was the same but in the end I had to go through a travel agent ( whom I usually use) and they had been quoting the same fare early morning, but after I had wasted several hours  trying to  go in through my Frequent flyer program, the fares had gone up by $200- so I wasn't happy. Singapore Airlines said because their quoted fares go fast- but that doesn't excuse about 2.5 hours of trying and getting the same fare quote each time. I bet their response would have been different if I was flying Business class- sometimes it's frustrating how powerless you are when you always fly economy class- it's like you are a meaningless number! And despite  having had sufficient points on various occasions I have never yet managed to get an upgrade either.

Anyway i did dye the silk piece above- thinking about river red as part of my waterways system- I am still thinking about it- the lighter colour is not quite as orange as I wanted it- I can repaint it, but I will need a nice sunny day for that- and none of this timewasting runnign around for bad news!

Pomegranate lino cut

I am slowly getting my head around the idea that I have to pack up everything and that there is a mountain of stuff to do- three more pieces to make for my waterways series for Southern Lands( I did dye the silk yesterday but I am still thinking about it- whether I like it enough or whether I do it again)- and what to do for the smaller complementary pieces. I also have to make a coloured 72 MORE Ways piece for my book which will be published in french.I also have to make a lot more small pieces. I am trying to track down a machine hwne I am in Europe but at the moment I will not have a machine.

Anyway in some of the desultory packing I have been doing a found a half finished pomegranate lino-cut and decided to finish it. It is for sale ( as I already have a number of lino cuts of pomegranates :-) ) for $60US inclusive of postage. It measures 6 inches square, is hand carved, and the resulting print is on the red fabric. If you look after it carefully you will be able to use it again and again. I simply wash them in water with a small scrubbing brush .

My Place, Fabric and Dreaming

Autumnal tones- For Sale ( 1 metre of fabric) $40US inclusive of postage

Multi Colour- For Sale ( i1metre of fabric ) $40US inclusive of postage

I spent the weekend at Craft Expo- minding the My Place exhibition which was much admired. I also caught up with a number of people from Finley High School- for years I never see s soul from this school and then suddenly on one weekend I run into three different people who all  hail form the Riverina.

MY PLACE- Last  Chance to see it!!


There is only one more opportunity to see this exhibition in Australia when it will be shown at COPACC in Colac ( which is my local biggish town) on 31st October and 1 November. Entry is a gold coin donation. There will also be a champagne Opening on Friday 30 October at 6 pm and I will give a floor talk as well. There are still a few place left in my master class I am teaching on Saturday and Sunday- we will be transfer painting and printing on lutradur and will sttich the pieces thus created. This will be the last workshop I do in Australia for quite some time- at least until 2011 and possibly until 2012 ( unless someone pays my airfare back to Australia :-) ) I will also have some of my own work there- for exhibit and sale.

I did quite a lot of handstitching on my small waterholes piece- it's just about finished- as you can see from the photo a lot of stitching has gone into it and I really wonder whether it is worth it ?

Unfortunately I have had to raise the prices for my books for British pounds/UK buyers- our dollar is riding ridiculously high- and i realised with some alarm that with the postage costs also increased and printing costs I am barely breaking even in the sterling currency- sorry about this .

On another note- it looks as if the Syria Tour and the Arts& Craft Tour of England Belgium and France that I am doing with Creative Arts Safaris will go ahead. so if you are at all interested please contact Creative Arts Safaris and book a place we are going to have a lot of fun and hopefully will inspire you!

More Forest Fabric

Forest I For Sale $ 40 US inclusive of postage- 1 metre of fabric SOLD
ForestII For Sale $40 US inclusive of postage - i metre of fabric SOLD

I have been dying fabric these last days and did some forest pieces. I have done very little dyeing since moving to a rented house as I am petrified of getting dye on the white grouting in the laundry and  well the whole set up to dye is a bit convoluted- so it is not as easy as it used to be. And then there is the issue of moving to Europe at the end of Novemeber- I don't want to have to store too much dyed fabric- so I don't carry the stock I used to ( all of which imapcts on a small business like mine) Anyway I don't think I shall be dying too much forest fabric in the next few years so here is your chance to get some.

I am off to Melbourne in half an hour- to install the MY  PLACE exhibition at the Craft Expo to be held at the Exhibition Buildings in Melbourne. I shall be there for the next four days ( October 8-11) minding the exhibition, talking about it and I might deomnstrate how to do some printing and maybe lino-cutting. It depends  how tired I am as I am driving to and from Melbourne everyday ( that's about a 25 hour drive each way)

Then I have to come back and do soem serious work on my waterways work for Southern Lands and pack up a house and life!

Busy Busy

My goodness October crept up without warning. here was i thinking I had plenty of time to  write two articles  but they are due this  coming Friday. Then I will be installing and  minding My Place at Craft Expo which starts later this week in Melbourne - and all of a sudden the week is totally chock a block full. I also have to dye loads of fabric for the one and only shop I supply with hand dyed fabrics in Melbourne- Patchworks Unlimited. I guess it is a good kind of business but i really thought I had an extra week up my sleeve. It doesn't help that it has been school holidays these last two weeks- it inevtaibly means less time to do things.







The two pieces are for sale. I had to make them for the book Ravissant Lutradur. The piece above is a Stone Angels variation  and it measures 10 inches by 14 inches ( 25 cm x  36 cm). It is forsale for $120US.

The piece below is a Boabab tree variation- it measures 11 inches by 15 inches and is for sale for $125US. Please email me if you are interested.

Travelers' Blanket Blue

The time has flown- where has it gone ?? We are still finalising the Carvanserai book- I know it needed to have been done at least a week ago but we had a few tech problems and photo problems- and now I will have to find someone in Melbourne who will digitally print so that at least it can be presented in the folio.We have also been in Melbourne for 4 days as my eldest daughter was doing a folio preparation course, and I wanted to show our French exchange student some of Melbourne's sights. I think many of the sights are over priced and the focus of everything  is to shop for rather kitsch tourist goods, which are often just bits of trashy plastic and  fake furry animals produced offshore- surely they can do better than this?

We also went to the Dali exhibition which had  rave reports but I have to say i was rather disappointed. Yes i did enjoy seeing some of the earlier work but much of the later work was not there. They did show some of the film projects he was involved with but as I had two young teenage girls with me I wasn't sure of the suitability ( the first movie with Luis Bunuel , Un Chien Andalou,has what is  still considered one of the most gruesome opening scenes ever) and  it wasn't as if you could get a glimpse- the exhibition was packed to the rafters with visitors- it briefly crossed my mind that if there was some kind of emergency the end result could be a disaster- you could barely move. And I have to admit by being spoilt- seeing Cap Reus and Cadaques and the Dali Theatre in Figueres two years ago- and on a different but much  less high art note....

I have been working like the blazers trying to finish the blue travelers' blanket, it's a long  slow process with such dense hand stitching- I still have quilting to go- but the end is in sight and I still have  some  squares to embroider.The quilt will be for sale when I finish it- so if you are interested email me. It is entirley hand stitched- layers of musling with hand dyed bump ( heavyweight flannel) as the batting ( it measures 35 inches wide x 56 inches long- 90cm wide x  145 cm long)

This travelers' blanket  like its predecessor is a form of  visual and haptic storytelling. It is of a traveller in search of new cloth and fibres and new inspirations, collecting snippets and scraps for  reuse and  refabricating  into another whole, which is like an aide de memoire, one which can be seen and which can be touched. Little moments of time captured in stitch with leftovers form all kinds of older and other projects , given a different meaning . The cloth has all been hand dyed and printed.

Prints for Sale

Village linocut print on hand dyed cotton ( 12 inches square- 30 cms square) $18US inclusive of postage- 2 prints available SOLD

I had an order for one of my little dolls for a small cjild- I tried to make him as bright as possible but with the directive that the doll be purple. He looks at home in the village scene!

Thank you for all the positive comments  for my last post and also the suggestions. I am still dreaming!

Ravissant Lutradur!

Marion Barnett and my book Lovely Lutradur is now out in French with the title "Ravissant Lutradur". It came by courier today so a lovely surprise.  I am really pleased with the way Editions de Saxe have done the layout. This is now my second book out in French and there will be a third next year as well- and so my love affair with France continues!! I have only ever had one book published in English by a publisher ( Tifaifai Renaissance which is now out of print) apart from those I have self published like 72 Ways and 72 More Ways. Book proposals have been sent to the US in the past, by Australian editors but  it was said that  I wasn't well known enough in that market place, and that the content was too meager ( which is interesting given that a  good proportion of  the readers of this blog ar American or Canadian- though I have quite a lot of French , English and Dutch readers too)

Anyway I like that they were prepared to do bright for the cover- the orange sings!

I am thinking about doing another book- haven't quite decided what- seomone suggested the Travellers' Blanket would be a good one to do int he 72 ways format ( but self pubslihing in colour is too expensive). I am open to suggestions???

Dreaming

I am back after a week of being internet challenged - don't ask!!

Taught a dyeing workshop at Leopold yesterday- it's given me some enthusiasm to do some dyeing again- now all ihave to do is wait for fabric which has been on order for two weeks..... You can see some of the dyeing results on Joanne's blog. The workshop was organised byt the Geelong Sewing Centre.

The photo is of the entire Tracks Across the land quilt which is being shown at Ste Marie aux Mines this weekend- I can show it now. I intend to make some more waterways quilts. The top is entirley lutradur , machine and hand stitched- and is a reflection upon all the peoples that have traversed Australia , the importance of water ways for the land and the problems of salination which besets so much of fringe agriculutural land.

And I have spied a little house in France- which has set my heart dreaming- there are a number of co-incidences which my daughter says are signs ( about place and waterways and history and people). I will need to sell all of my quilts or my block of land- but I haven't dared dream like this for quite some time...It needs lots of work which can be done over time, but it's all the other factors which are calling me.

Ohh and there are still afew places in the on-line lino-cutting course which starts next week- email me if you want to join. The lessons take you through basic stroke making to designing your own more complex lino-cuts.

And whilst i was internet challenged my blog reached a few mile stones- 250,000th visitor (as I was unable to access I don't know when that exactly happened) and 170 countries- thank you all for visiting,leaving comments and being friends!

Small Waterways piece

I have been stitching and stitching colonial knots- to create the waterhole kind of effect on this smaller water ways piece which will be part of the Southern Lands exhibition I am taking to France next year for exhibition at Centre Europeeen du Patchwork. Looking at the photo it looks a bit sun flowery- but these water holes from an airplane windown really look otherwordly.

Don't forget there is still time to register for my on-line lino-cutting course which starts September 21st. Participants have produced some wonderful lino-cuts in the past- some of which I wished I had made!!

Off to Bright to teach tomorrow- it's a bit of a drive. Back on Sunday

Colours of Africa

I worked today on fulfilling some promises. Firstly ( but actually second picture) an A4 sized piece for an DUQ auction to fundraise for the National Breast cancer Association in Australia which will be held in early October. Fifteen artists were invited to submit pieces so here is hoping they will raise some funds.

The first piece is for my friend Laura's Colours of Africa project to fund raise, to build a safe school for poor children in South Africa. I intend to make another A4 piece to send to her, because once I got started ideas were brimming, and I found all the right bits of fabric. The leopard is a gocco print from an actual photograph I took of a leopard in Africa. It is a really worthwile project and promises to be a wonderful event for a textile weekend in Essen, Belgium next year.